June 16, 2021
Seoul Police Station
"Can you tell me where you were at the time the victim was probably killed? From about eight o'clock."
Ian breathed again, this time hard. He relaxed his sitting position for a moment. "I was on the banks of the Han River from six o'clock to about eight o'clock. After that, I went to Tae Hyung's bar and stayed there until eleven o'clock at night."
"Is there any evidence that could corroborate your alibi? Especially when you're on the Han River."
Ian shook his head, making Ji Young sigh. "But, I had stopped by a minimarket on the path to the Han River."
"Could you tell me more about the small shop you went to?"
"I don't remember. What is certain is that a minimarket is not too far from the Han River," says Ian. Actually, he could have said it if he was recorded on the camera of the car parked behind him. But he chose not to say it because the car belonged to Emma and is now in the gumiho's house again.
Ji Young sighed again. The man saved the report documents he had obtained before finally closing the laptop.
"All right. We end here. But you can't leave yet. We're going to find out and make sure that the alibi you gave was true or not."
"Go ahead."
"I don't think you did it, Ian."
"It's not me," Ian replied as he looked at Ji Young, who had moved from his seat.
***
Convenience store
Young Dae and Ji Young immediately get out of their car when they arrive in front of a convenience store that is on the path to the Han River. This is the fifth minimarket they went to along the way. The previous four minimarkets did not show Ian's presence around the hours mentioned by the young man. Ji Young hopes that this time they will be able to find the truth from Ian's alibi. Ji Young previously told Young Dae to find out the CCTV footage of Tae Hyung's bar, but his partner rejected it because he assumed it might have been fabricated, considering that Ji Young is good friends with Tae Hyung and apparently Tae Hyung knows Ian well.
"Excuse me," Young Dae said as he knocked on the counter, as the female cashier happened to have her back to them.
"How can I help you?" asked the cashier with a smile on his face.
Young Dae shows his ID card before asking, "We are under investigation. Can we see the CCTV footage?"
The cashier was silent for a while before finally giving permission to the two detectives to see the CCTV footage. "Go ahead," the cashier told Ji Young to check the CCTV footage.
Ji Young starts to check the CCTV footage, especially last night's CCTV footage at The Times that Ian mentioned. "Oh?"
"You found him?" ask Young Dae as he approaches Ji Young, who is behind the counter.
"I found his whereabouts," Ji Young replied. The man looks relieved by Ian's appearance on the tape; he even took a picture showing Ian's face on the tape. This footage proves that Ian didn't lie when he said he went to the convenience store. "Well, thank you for your cooperation. Good afternoon."
Ji Young immediately comes out from behind the counter with a feeling of relief. The two young detectives quickly walked out of the premises.
"Don't feel relieved. We have to look for evidence that Ian is indeed near the Han River." Young Dae said that, breaking Ji Young's sense of relief.
***
Seoul Police Station
Park Do Chan was in the interrogation room, on the other side of the interrogation room. The man was watching Ian, who was still sitting there, through the one-way glass. The young man, Hwang, looked so calm, it didn't look suspicious at all to others who saw him. But for him, who has been involved for almost thirty years, Ian is clearly suspicious.
"Captain."
A call from Shin Soo Han diverted the man's attention for a moment. "How did it go?" he asked.
"Ian didn't go to the apartment last night," Soo Han reports about his investigation. When they first went to Younggu's apartment, the four detectives forgot to check the CCTV because Young Dae said he had found someone who was the last person with the victim.
"Are you sure?" ask Chan to be sure.
Soo Han nodded. "Ian was not on the CCTV footage last night, and the apartment keeper confirmed that he did not go there."
"But there's something strange, Captain," Jae Wook added.
"What's strange?" Do Chan inquired, perplexed.
"The CCTV footage near the victim's apartment room does not show anyone coming, nor does it show the victim opening the door at times when the perpetrator might come. The apartment room was closed from six o'clock until about twelve o'clock in the afternoon when the victim's friend came," Jae Wook explained to Do Chan. "The window has no sign of a break-in."
"After all, who would break into a fifteenth-floor house through a window?" Soo Han asked.
"Apartment maintenance officer. He can use his tools to reach the fifteenth floor or so," Jae Wook said.
Do Chan exhaled a sigh. He looked back at Ian. The more he looked at the young man, the more he felt that there was something familiar on Ian's face. The call addressed to him again made Do Chan divert his attention. Jung Young Dae was the one who called him this time.
"How? Can his alibi be confirmed?" Do Chan asked.
Young Dae nodded. "We found Ian's whereabouts on CCTV footage of a convenience store, then on a car camera showing the boy on the Han River, as well as on CCTV footage of a bar in the hours of the possible murder. His alibi is correct."
"Can he be released, Captain?" Ji Young was the one who asked this time.
"Yes, release him," Do Chan ordered.
***
Baekyeon University Hospital Funeral Home
"Soo Young! My poor daughter!"
The cries of Mrs. Min-Lee Soo Young's mother sounded so loud in the room where the Princess's body lay. Not only Mrs. Min, but Soo Young's father and older brother also seem to shed tears because they have to lose Soo Young's figure.
Outside the funeral home, Ian could only see the situation inside. He really wanted to come in and pay his last respects. But he's ashamed to do that. He was still filled with remorse.
He took a deep breath and chose to leave.
I'm sorry, Soo Young. I should have said from the beginning that you were dating Su Bin. It's all my fault for not being able to protect you. I hope you're calm there.